Joseph Graner, son of Leizer and Chaya Graner, was born in the Ukraine, Russia, in 1879. He was educated in cheders and emigrated to England in the early twentieth century, where he remained for two and a half years. He settled in Toronto in 1907. He was the founder and first president of the Hebrew National Association and one of the founders of the Kehillah of Toronto. He was on the Board of the United Orthodox Synagogues of Canada, the Hebrew Free School, the Old Folks Home and the Goel Zedeck Synagogue. He was president of the Ukraine Verband of Toronto and Ontario in 1919, and directed the relief campaigns for the distressed. He was also chairman of the Ukraine Orphans' Campaign and was appointed a Justice of the Peace in July 1919. He had three children: Harry, Irwin, and Ida.